This present invention relates to aircraft seats and, more specifically, to aircraft ejection seats.
At the U.S. Military""s request, common-design aircraft are being developed for the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the U.S. Air Force. The Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force further modify the common-design aircraft.
One example of further modification of the common design is an ejection system for emergency escape from an aircraft. The Navy and Marine Corps traditionally favor ejecting from an aircraft as quickly as possible because of the hazards of carrier operations. The quickest ejection method is ejecting through the canopy. The U.S. Air Force prefers jettisoning the canopy prior to seat ejection. Because of these desires for two different ejection methods, two separate canopy systems are manufactured. This greatly increases costs over a common design aircraft that has not been modified.
Also, once a canopy system is installed in an aircraft, the ejection method is set. The customer can not easily alter the aircraft to allow for a different ejection method.
Therefore, there exists an unmet need to allow a customer to select and operate an ejection system in its preferred format without incurring great production or alteration costs.
The present invention provides a method and system for ejection operation in an aircraft. The present invention allows selection of one of two modes of ejection: ejecting through the canopy; and jettisoning the canopy before ejection.
The present invention provides a method and system for ejection operation in an aircraft. The system allows selection of one of two modes of ejection: ejecting through the canopy; and jettisoning the canopy before ejection. The system includes an ejection mode selector for selecting one of a canopy shattering ejection mode and a canopy jettison ejection mode, canopy shattering components, canopy jettison components, and an ejection actuator. The ejection actuator activates one of the canopy shattering components or the canopy jettison components based on the selected ejection mode.
In one aspect of the invention, the canopy shattering components include an explosive device within the canopy or a piercing device attached to an ejection seat.
In another aspect of the invention, the canopy jettison components include one or more force generating devices, such as explosive devices, located between the canopy and the aircraft.
In still another aspect of the invention, the ejection mode selector is located within a cockpit of the aircraft.